UNICEF and the Global Goals

UNICEF is committed to doing all it can to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family – and especially children and young people.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF has been featuring a series of stories about this landmark international agreement on the basic human rights of all children – including progress made and challenges that remain. Here is one of those stories.

CYBERJAYA, Malaysia, 20 November 2009 – Young people from different nationalities across the globe are sending a message of peace and hope through music, as part of a UNICEF partnership with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology to help create a world fit for children.

Composed, sung and arranged by students and staff of Limkokwing Sound and Music Design Academy – a component of the University of Creative Technology – the three-minute music video, 'Let’s Heal the World', symbolizes their vision for a peaceful and safe world where the rights of every child are protected and celebrated.

“In the year when we honor 20 years of child rights, we must remind ourselves to work together to ensure that childhood for every child is free from fear and want,” said UNICEF's Representative in Malaysia and Special Representative to Brunei, Youssouf Oomar. “Only then can every child grow up in peace.”

'Let us be strong, let us be free'

The chorus of 'Let’s Heal the World' underscores the students’ steadfast commitment to realizing a common humanity: “Let’s make a change / Let’s make a stand / The world must be together as one / Let us be strong, let us be free.”

“They are the new generation and they are the bridge between all races, ages and nationalities,” said CEO and Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato of the university, Dr. Lim Kok Wing. “They want to live in a better world, and the only world that makes us one. Through ‘Let’s Heal the World,’ they pledge for peace, for harmony, love and care for one another.”

Youth voices to shine

‘Let’s Heal the World’ will shine a path for a three-year partnership between UNICEF and Limkokwing University that aims to take the school’s students on an educational and inspiring journey to embrace personal leadership roles for change and innovation.

“Studying together, understanding differences and respecting each other is something that we are doing to build a better world,” said Kotryna Stankute, 22 – a Limkokwing University student from Lithuania, who also sang in the music video. “This is my dream," she added.